Lenzy Family Institute struggles to stay afloat

Sunday

CANTON The brightly colored rooms and hallways of a new rehabilitation and detox center on Penn Place NE were dark and lifeless last week, a month after it was supposed to open.

The Lenzy Family Institute announced plans for the Hezekiah and Annie Ruth Treatment Center with great fanfare a year ago, and spent at least $2.5 million to renovate the former nursing home.

But the HART Center has yet to open as The Lenzy Family Institute battles financial trouble.

The not-for-profit Institute shed dozens of employees this year, and former workers said they went weeks without being paid before leaving out of frustration with Elizabeth Lenzy, Institute president and CEO.

“She still owes us two paychecks,” said April Henderson, who left the Institute last month.

In an email to staff late last month, Elizabeth Lenzy apologized for recent layoffs and the agency’s “extreme financial distress.”

The email said the Institute was “working ardently” to become financially solvent, but understood if employees took other jobs or applied for unemployment.

“Your sacrifices have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated,” she wrote in the email, copies of which were obtained by The Canton Repository.

Asked to comment on the situation, Lenzy gave The Repository a written statement prepared with her attorney, Brian Mertes.

The statement said the Institute was “committed to remaining open and continuing to serve the needs of our community.”

The statement blamed recent changes in Ohio’s Medicaid billing and reimbursement process for hurting the Institute’s cash flow and forcing it to drastically cut budget, staff and services, and preventing it from opening the HART Center.

“We plan to reorganize and revamp our programs using less staff, but while still maintaining quality patient care,” the statement concluded. “If you can help us, please let us know.”

Rapid growth

The Repository toured the nearly completed HART Center in August. At the time, Lenzy said she planned to open the 32-bed facility in late September.

She bought the property at 2330 Penn Place NE at an auction in 2014. It was formerly the Smith Nursing Home.

Soon after Lenzy bought the property, the Institute saw rapid growth, according to federal tax filings.

In the fiscal year that ended June 2014, the not-for-profit had revenue of $199,000, an amount that didn’t cover expenses.

But revenue soared during succeeding years, and by June 2017, the Institute’s annual intake approached $5 million and it ended the fiscal year with more than $2 million in net assets.

The Institute’s workforce also grew from 31 employees as of June 2015 to 64 as of June 2017, according to tax filings.

Workers not paid

The Institute had about 80 employees when Lenzy called a meeting this summer and laid-off about half of the staff, according to former workers.

Lenzy blamed the budget crunch on new Medicaid requirements and internal billing problems, said Henderson, who kept her job that day.

Henderson said she liked her work, which involved taking clients to appointments, buying groceries for the Institute’s residential houses and teaching life skills.

Later, the Institute asked employees to sign a form stating they were working voluntarily and wouldn’t be paid immediately, former workers said.

“They were making excuses as to why we weren’t being paid,” said Kim Lenzy, who formerly worked in the Institute’s office and whose husband, Elizabeth’s nephew, also works for the Institute.

Kim Lenzy and Henderson said they were finally paid last month for work they did in the first half of September, but they hadn’t seen the rest of their pay. Both decided to leave the Institute, but others have stayed.

On Friday, about 20 workers still with the Institute were paid some of the money owed them and given information on wage cuts, but Henderson and Kim Lenzy said they didn’t get checks.

“She has dedicated people and they’re dedicated to the cause, and I think it’s being blown away,” Henderson said.

Reach Shane at 330-580-8338 or shane.hoover@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @shooverREP

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